Strider

The year is 2005, you have just pre-ordered Guitar Hero and you’re the coolest person on Myspace.

I on the other hand was completely lacking in direction, had been to Burning Man once and had a welder that was sitting  idle. My girlfriend suggested we make an Art Car.

Needing a solid base for this yet to be fully understood adventure, I found a 1983 Chevy 1 ton pickup on craigslist for $500. The seller told me it runs but he suggested I trailer it home because he could not guarantee it would make it to the bottom of the driveway. Being the type to throw caution to the wind, I learned that it actually ran ...ish.

Step two. Okay, maybe step 2.9.4.325. I’m sure I forgot to take a few photos, but here we are now. Plus,  do you  really want to watch me play with a plasma cutter for two days?

Still unsure what we were actually building, we made the executive decision to put 48-inch steel wheels on the front end. This required a slight surgical procedure to the sheet metal to make it possible.

It turns out, that the engine actually ran really strong after I removed all those fancy dancy extra hoses that were so popular back in 1983.

Pro tip: You can mount the headers on a small block Chevy upside down. Plumb the top of the exhaust stacks with propane jets, close the choke and push the accelerator to the floor. While you’re doing this, hit the propane cannons. The vaporized exhaust gas will mix with the propane and produce a very nice exploding fireball effect just like a Top Fuel Dragster.

Big springs, because we could.

This seemed like a really good idea, until you have to hold the crank sideways for half an hour.

This is the start of something.

The outer part of the steel wheels.

Off on its maiden voyage to Burning Man, there’s unfortunately very little documentation of the build. This vehicle made it to Burning Man probably about six or seven times. Years ago, the radiator failed and dump water into the transmission. We decided it had a good life and was time to move on to new adventures. The frame was stripped-down and converted into a farm wagon. Many of the artistic components have been reused or are still sitting around for a Second Life.

At home at the ThunderDome.

Pro tip number two: Lie on the ground while taking your photos. Everything looks cooler.

Got to do what you got to do, to stay warm.

I'm checking the muffler bearings. 

And you thought you couldn’t make anything cool out of an old washing machine.

The gunner seat was popular for obvious reasons.

The photographer who took this photo gave it to me and said he had a photo of me driving. It was quite an amusing moment, as I’m not driving, and the person who is driving claimed he did not take the vehicle… And I’m the crazy one. Well I am, but not for that reason.